


The Thing About Dark Marks (Or Hermione Granger Has a Hunch)

by crochetaway



Series: Hermione's Haven Bingo 2020 [17]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-25
Updated: 2020-07-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:00:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25509388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crochetaway/pseuds/crochetaway
Summary: The thing about Dark Marks was that they are supposed to be permanent. What Lord Voldemort, and none of the other architects of the Dark Mark, had accounted for was the tenacity of Hermione Granger.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy
Series: Hermione's Haven Bingo 2020 [17]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1833604
Comments: 11
Kudos: 220
Collections: Hermione's Haven Bingo 2020





	The Thing About Dark Marks (Or Hermione Granger Has a Hunch)

**Author's Note:**

> **Created for Hermione's Haven Bingo 2020 Fest! This is for my G2 square which was the prompt: Dark Mark.**
> 
> **Inspiration for this fic is the Harry removing Draco's dark mark artwork below done by Alekina. Check out their Tumblr for more amazing artwork!**
> 
> **No beta, just Grammarly. If you love this (or hate it) please let me know about in a review! Find me on Tumblr at crochetawayhpff.**

* * *

The thing about Dark Mark’s was that they are supposed to be permanent. At least the ones that Lord Voldemort generously bestowed on his followers. What Lord Voldemort, and none of the other architects of the Dark Mark, had accounted for was the tenacity of Hermione Granger. This was a witch who set her professor’s robes on fire when she thought he was cursing her friend. She had battled trolls, brewed illicit potions in girl’s lavatories (with ingredients stolen from the strictest professor in school), and used a Time-Turner to take more classes than anyone had ever been allowed to take. She had ridden a Thestral (which she couldn’t even _see_ at the time) and a Hippogriff (while managing to save a falsely imprisoned convict). She helped break into the Ministry of bleeding Magic.

Flat out, Hermione Granger had bollocks.

So, when she was told that the Dark Mark couldn’t be removed, she took it as a personal challenge, not a fact.

“You’re not going to be able to figure it out,” Draco Malfoy muttered to her. She’d been researching magical tattoos for close to two months at that point. Even she was beginning to think that he was right.

“Do you want to be saddled with that thing for the rest of your life?” she fiercely whispered back. They were in the Hogwarts library, and Hermione had already drilled into his head how quiet they needed to be in order for Madam Pince to not kick them out.

“Of course not, Granger, but I don’t want to see you making yourself sick over it. When was the last time you ate?”

Hermione reddened and looked away. He wasn’t entirely wrong. Harry and Ron never noticed when she wasn’t eating. It was odd to have someone who did.

“I’m fine, Draco,” she said, covering his hand, relatively sure that Harry and Ron weren’t anywhere near the library or the Marauder’s Map. It was Gryffindor’s Quidditch practice night, after all.

“I can live with _this_ ,” he indicated his left arm, “but I won’t be happy if I have to sneak out past curfew to see you in the infirmary,” he replied, covering her hand with his other one. “You have to take care of yourself, for me.”

“I will, I’ll get a sandwich from the kitchens on my way back to the common room,” Hermione promised. “I’m so close to getting this figured out, though.”

Draco gave her a look that clearly said he didn’t quite believe her, but Hermione knew. There wasn’t anything that she hadn’t been able to figure out yet. If all else failed, she figured she could drug him and cut the layers of skin that contained the mark off of him. It would hurt like hell and she wasn’t sure she could handle the blood involved, but for him? She’d do it.

That was the last resort though. And it worried her, it wasn’t fool-proof, which is why she hadn’t suggested it yet. The Dark Mark might be deeper than a Muggle tattoo. A Muggle tattoo could be skinned off, as gruesome as that was, but the Dark Mark had magic infused in it. It made Hermione think that skinning it off wouldn’t actually do anything to lessen the magic. That’s what she needed to find, a way to pull the magic from the tattoo. If it got rid of the tattoo as well, all for the better. If not, well, there were ways to remove or cover over a tattoo.

“Can I see it?” Hermione asked suddenly, a thought occurring to her.

“Here?” Draco asked, looking around.

Their corner of the library was empty, nobody in sight.

“Just for a moment,” Hermione said. She flicked her wand, putting up a small ward around their table to warn her if anyone approached.

Draco sighed and began pulling off his black suit jacket. He’d taken to wearing the black, bespoke suits this year, and Hermione had to admit they did something for him. He rolled the sleeve of his shirt up, looking around shiftily. Hermione was quick. She yanked his arm toward her and pressed her finger to the Dark Mark.

It certainly was ugly. Black, the snake hissed at her as it wound through the skull. That was it, the movement of the snake. She wondered if it was the snake itself that was sentient. That could prove problematic. Harry was a Parselmouth, but she wasn’t sure it was a language she could learn, at least not well. And Merlin knew, Harry would flip his lid if he knew what she and Draco had been up to for the last six months.

But, she needed to know. She needed Harry’s help. After everything she had done for him over the years, he could hardly refuse her this, could he?

“Are you finished?” Draco hissed.

“Yes,” Hermione sighed. “I need you to meet me in the Room of Requirement later. I’ll owl you.”

“I don’t like the look on your face, Granger,” he said as he shrugged his suit jacket back on.

“You’re not going to like what I have to say later either,” Hermione replied with a shrug. “But it is what it is and if you want it gone, you’ll have to trust me.”

“I shouldn’t, I really shouldn’t,” he muttered under this breath. With one last quick look around, he ducked his head and pressed his lips to hers. “But for some reason I do,” he added quietly as he pulled away.

She offered him a small smile. “I’m going to figure this out, Draco.”

He nodded and gathered his books. “Don’t forget the kitchens,” he whispered as he left the library.

Hermione nodded at him and turned back to her books. She began taking rapid notes of everything she was sure she would need to remove the Mark permanently. Now, she just had to convince Harry. Without cluing Ron into what was going on.

* * *

“I don’t want to do this,” Harry grumbled as Hermione led him toward the Room of Requirement.

“Don’t worry, he’s going to be about as happy about it as you are. But it needs to be done,” Hermione said.

“Why? He made the dumb choice to get it. Why are you helping him? Why should I help him?”

“Because he’s a child,” Hermione said, wheeling around to face him. “He’s a child who was forced to pledge himself to a madman or have his mother killed in front of him. Tell me, Harry, what would your choice have been? Hmm?”

“He’s not that much of a child,” Harry replied sullenly.

“Would you rather be against him? Or have him on our side?” Hermione asked. “That’s what you need to decide right now. Should we have one more Death Eater to fight against?”

“No, of course not.”

“Then come on,” Hermione commanded, grabbing the sleeve of his robe and pulling him along behind her.

She wasn’t wrong, Draco was just as pissed as Harry was when he saw who was with her. Thankfully, he hadn’t approached to give her some sort of affection prior to seeing Harry.

“What’s _he_ doing here?” Draco asked.

“How many Parselmouths do you know?” Hermione asked instead. “I think the snake is sentient. And if it is, Harry’s the only one who can talk to it. Him and Voldemort.”

Draco winced when she said Voldemort’s name, as he always did.

“You can’t touch your wand to it,” Hermione told Harry. “That will summon Voldemort. You have to touch the tattoo to make it come alive.”

“Fine,” Harry said but didn’t move. Draco also didn’t move. Both boys stared at the other.

“For Godric’s sake,” Hermione muttered and dragged Draco over to Harry. She unbuttoned his suit coat (ignoring Harry’s choking noise at how familiar she was with Draco), and pushed his coat off his shoulders. Then she started in on his cuffs, slipping the cuff link into his trousers pocket (another noise from Harry at that). She pulled Draco’s arm out straight, putting it right in front of Harry’s face.

Harry sighed and held onto Draco’s wrist with his left hand, using his right to touch the Dark Mark, (it was Draco’s turn to make a noise at the back of his throat). Hermione turned his face away from what Harry was doing.

“Find out anything you can,” she said to Harry as she kept Draco’s eyes on her. “If you can persuade the snake to leave entirely, that would be ideal, but anything you can find out, do it.”

Draco gritted his teeth and Hermione placed a hand on either of his cheeks, keeping his focus on her.

“You can do this,” Hermione said in a low voice as Harry began hissing at Draco’s arm. Draco’s head nodded infinitesimally as his face tightened.

Hermione sneaked a glance past him and gasped. There was a thick black snake, emerging from Draco’s arm. Harry was talking to it.

Draco tried to move his head. “No,” Hermione hissed, holding him to face her. “Don’t look,” she said.

He nodded, but she could tell from how tense his body got that there was some pain. He hissed and tightened his lips.

“How much longer, Harry?” Hermione asked.

“Almost done,” Harry panted. He was sweating and hissing furiously, his right hand twitching against Draco’s forearm.

Hermione nodded. Hoping Harry was convincing the snake to leave. That would be best. Easiest, well easiest for Draco and her. Maybe not for Harry considering how much energy he seemed to be expending.

After a long moment, in which Draco hissed twice more, Harry announced, “Done.”

Hermione heard a thick, wet sound as something hit the floor and she jumped back to see a desiccated snake at Harry’s feet.

“What the fuck is that?” Draco asked, his eyes wide as he looked at the lump of flesh on the floor.

“Your Dark Mark,” Harry said quietly.

Then he slumped to the ground.

“Potter!” Draco shouted as Hermione knelt down to her friend.

“I’m alright,” Harry said quietly. Hermione helped him sit up. “Just took a lot out of me.”

“Salazar,” Draco cursed, cutting off whatever he was about to say next. He looked down at his arm. His bare left arm. “It’s gone,” he added faintly.

“Yeah,” Harry replied. “It’s gone. And _he’s_ pissed about it.”

“Voldemort?” Hermione clarified.

Harry winced, holding his head and nodding.

Draco stared at them with wide eyes. Hermione shook her head at him when it looked like he was going to ask. _Later_ , she mouthed to him.

“We should get you back to the common room to rest,” Hermione said to Harry. “Draco, help me get him up.”

They levered him up and Draco helped her get him out of the Room of Requirement, by then Harry was walking well enough that just Hermione was able to support him.

“I’ll owl you,” Draco said as she and Harry made their way down the corridor.

“How long have you and Malfoy been dating?” Harry asked once they were on the stairs.

“Longer than you want to know,” Hermione responded quietly. “Thank you, Harry. What you did, it was brilliant.”

Harry snorted. “No, it was easy. Convincing a half-sentient snake to leave someone’s skin? That was easy. You are the brilliant one. How did you know?”

“Magical tattoos move in the same way every time, the Dark Mark didn’t,” Hermione said. “That’s what made me think it might be sentient. It was just a hunch. And it definitely didn’t look easy.”

Harry ignored that last bit. “A bloody brilliant one,” Harry replied. “Even if it was for Malfoy.”

“He owes you now, you know,” Hermione said. “If not a life debt, damn near one.”

Harry nodded. “Not that I want him to owe me anything.” They reached the portrait of the Fat Lady but didn’t say the password yet. Harry turned to face her, able to walk under his own power now. “It wasn’t the removal that was hard. It was trying to keep Voldemort out of my head as I was doing it. He knew, the moment I touched it, he knew.”

“I was afraid of that,” she sighed. She knew all along that it wouldn’t matter whether or not Draco had the Dark Mark, him defecting to the Light side was going to put a target on his back. He was at least in good company. Harry had the biggest target of all.

“Could come in handy, him owing you,” she said. “Although, I’m not sure he’s considered what it means, no longer having a Dark Mark.”

“He won’t be able to go home,” Harry said, crossing his arms over his chest looking deep in thought.

“No, he won’t.” Hermione _had_ thought through all of the ramifications, even if Draco hadn’t. She was fully prepared to stand by his side. His and Harry’s, although whether Harry would want Draco there or not was a different story.

“We’re going to be stuck with him, aren’t we?” He offered her a half-smirk and Hermione let out a breath. Harry could be stubborn, but he wasn’t stupid. Even if Draco was the last person he would want to be stuck spending time with, he could see how valuable Draco could be for them.

“Probably,” Hermione said with a small smile. “Help me persuade Ron?”

Harry snorted. “Nope, that one is all you.”

_**~Fin~** _


End file.
